On the 7th June, some pupils from Years 7 and 8 went to Gateshead Stadium to take part in an athletics competition. The events Included high jump, shot, javelin, hurdles, 100m, 300m and 1500m (a very long way!) The stadium was huge and it was an amazing  experience to run, jump and throw where professional Olympians had...though I am sure that some of the athletes from our school will be competing there at this level one day. If you did well enough you would qualify for an event at the stadium in July to win medals and determine who is the best in the country. A lot of our school’s competitors qualified.

On Tuesday 13th June 2017, 12 girls and 1 boy went to a gyOn Tuesday 13th June 2017, 12 girls and 1 boy went to a gymnastics competition at Walker Activity Dome.  Team A was a group of year 5s and team B was a group of year 6s. When they got there, they ate their packed lunches on a balcony that overlooked the floor.

Towards the end of term, Year 7 pupils went on a trip to Alnwick Castle with their new Year 8 form teachers. This was a magical day for all of the Harry Potter fans and everybody else! The day involved The Dragon Quest, a range of exciting puzzles with a mirrored wall maze and several dark tunnels… this was a favourite activity for many. Another favourite was the broomstick flying lesson, where every pupil enjoyed taking photos of their levitating friends! To improve their knowledge of medieval medicines, they learnt about and debated if certain cures would work. The children also worked with their friends to produce soap to take home and keep. The pupils got a chance to visit inside of the castle; everyone enjoyed exploring the massive library and dining room and learning more about the castle’s history. On the journey back to school, the children discussed what they had learnt with each other and how much they enjoyed the day. A group of girls said, “We loved the broomstick-flying lesson and learning about the castle’s fascinating history. It was an amazing trip!”  

On Monday morning, we had the pleasure of welcoming our  Chinese visitors, both teachers and students . With all of GEMS wearing the Chinese lucky colour (red), we greeted them warmly. The house captains prepared an assembly; it significantly captured what GEMS is all about and informed our guests about Newcastle – home of the Geordies- ‘Whey aye man’

After all of the hard work of designing, sketching and painting the bird boxes were finished and it was time for the official opening ceremony. The winning designers, accompanied by their friends, were also joined by Mr Stout, Mrs Jefferson and governor Mrs Simon. Samaha from Year 6 had the honour of cutting the ribbon since her bird box had been judged the overall winner. As she cut the ribbon she explained her reaction by saying ‘I felt flabbergasted.’

In June approximately 20 year 8 students visited one of the world’s leading tech companies, Accenture for a week. Accenture is a very big tech company that works with many other leading companies and organizations such as Argos (they created their website), Met Police and Google (they help fix any problems when Google cannot solve it by themselves!) They are very important and have a turnover of over £3 billion!